New baritone tuning: gCeA

I wanted to share an experiment that has been very successful: a gcea tuning that works well for baritone uke with original (DGBE) strings. I did this so my wife and I could have an easy-to strum alternative that uses fingerings identical to concert.

I conducted this experiment on a Lanikai LU-21B nato/mahogany (laminate) uke with factory strings.

Here’s what I did:

1. Moved the bari D string (wound, normally in 4th string position) to 3rd and tuned down to 1 step to C, 1 octave below middle C.
2. Moved the bari G string (wound) to 4th position and left it at G (below middle C, a fourth above this uke’s low C)
3. Moved the bari B string to 1st position and tuned down 1 step to A(below middle C, one step above this uke’s G)
4. The slightly weird part – moved the bari e string to 2nd position and left it at e (above middle C)

So the relationships are identical to traditional re-entrant gCEA, with the exception that the E is an octave higher – so I call this gCeA. Two of the four strings are tuned down one step; the other two are at original pitch (although repositioned).

It strums very well; in most chords it makes the voicing wide, since the E string sings out above the other three. I actually prefer that because it avoids muddy-sounding thirds in the bass clef.

C and F major chords are especially strong with the low C. Across the board, it makes a nice, mellow sonority with all the familiar concert/tenor/soprano chords.

Not good for fingerpicking, obviously, but for strumming it works great. I tend to reach for it when I’m doing pop/rock songs from guitar chords that are meant to be played with capo on the 3rd-5th frets.

I’m thinking of posting a demo or two on Youtube because I think this is a very friendly way for newcomers to the baritone to get that mellow sonority without having to master chords a fourth/fifth off from what they’re used to. And it requires no new strings! I have the factory Aquila strings on this (bottom 2 wound).

I'll see what I can get together. A rehearsal was just canceled due to weather, etc. so I might have a little time to play around and snap a clip!

Can't wait to see the clip- just got a "gamblers special" bari on the very cheap- and amazed at the sound- I love the minimal feel-
It's VERY light- almost feels like bamboo.

there were some minor playability issues- buzzes- mostly cured by filing of frets, and slight raising of bridge piece it's got a string under it for now)
- lowest action out of the box I've ever seen- ordered a taller bridge bone and apparently the Lanikai bone is a couple of milimeters short of others

The sound really blows the Rogue away, but I guess normal retail is much more- this is real mahogany/ sapelle type wood.

also got some Aquila red low G and low D strings I'll probably try in a few weeks after I'm good and used to the sound as it is. Really love this size now.
But still tuned standard with a wound ow D like a guitar- the l;ow D that arrived with it was smaller guage than the third G string, and corroded- I put the original 4th off the Rogue -

for some reason I don;t mind the wound strings as much now- whether me or the different uke

So it's like some bizarro Cuatro tuning! Sounds interesting. Would love to hear a clip too.

I only bought my bari to get the lower tuning. And to experiment with making it a bass bari. Just Sayin'!

DaleR, this is actually a lower tuning than standard bari. It's basically "octave ukulele" (octave below concert uke) except for the high e-- which makes the lowest note C as opposed to D for standard bari uke.

I played around last night but decided to watch an episode of Sherlock instead of recording a demo. But I will try to get to this tonight!

I've been playing an octave-lower GCEA baritone ukulele (using classical guitar strings). It completely lacks that plinky ukulele sound, so some of the people in groups to which I've brought this uke look at me funny, but I really like the deep voice.

Hmmmm....I see now. Might have to try it out!

Here is the demo: http://youtu.be/_hpbLsNORNg. Enjoy!

The chords sound good, but I don't think it would work fingerstyle.

I like it! Low-G tuning on regular ukes has always bugged me because it completely changes the characters of the chords, but this tuning still has the C string as the lowest pitch. And as you noted - this means you don't have to re-learn the chords when you move from smaller ukes to a bari.

I'm definitely going to try this. Thanks!

Absolutely true--I concede this would not be a good tuning for fingerstyle at all. It's strictly for strummers.

One refinement I'm considering: the drop-pitch A string (B string tuned down to A) is a little loose and "thuddy." I'm thinking about using a second wound G string and tuning UP to A instead.

aarondminnick said:

One refinement I'm considering: the drop-pitch A string (B string tuned down to A) is a little loose and "thuddy." I'm thinking about using a second wound G string and tuning UP to A instead.

Click to expand...

In that case you might as well use the d and g from two sets and go gCEA octave tuning. So you can finger pick as well.

I had thought about that, Rodney - but I've never been fond of close voicings in the bass clef (this is something I learned as a lad playing duets on baritone sax). I started this as an experiment to see if I could use all original strings (which seems pretty successful), but found that I like the high e string for chording, because it helps to avoid thirds down low. Of course, that's just my personal preference. Others may like that close voicing just fine.

Aaron, thank you for posting the very good review/demo of this tuning variation. Pretty cool

Just a note to mention that I tuned my Des Laurieres Baritone as you directed, and WOW what a nice surprise. Thanks for the tip.

Paul from NJ

You are very welcome. I've been playing duets with my wife, with me on regular DGBE bari and her on gCeA bari and we love the sound.

sounds good! I may try it with a new [to me] baritone coming any day now. I have one tuned GCEA , one DGBE, and was thinking dGBE [ reentrant bari, but since I have a set of Martin 630 strings, I may try your suggestion. Only problem is it is a 19 inch scale, so I may have to tune up if the former B string is too floppy.

I needed to swap out a couple of strings on various instruments so as an experiment I bought a full guitar set of d'Addario EJ46 Pro-Arte Nylon, Hard Tension strings and used the B string from that set to swap out the original factory B string (tuned down to A). I found the slightly heavier gauge (0.0327) worked better than the original when tuned down to A.

My Lanikai baris have a long 20.5" scale, so you might even want to go with a heavier string, like the d'Addario extra-hard (EJ44), which has an A string gauge of 0.0360.